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Crime

Vernon RCMP investigate suspicious fire

VERNON - Police are following up on a suspicious dumpster bin fire. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says it appears someone set cardboard on fire inside a dumpster around 6:45 p.m. Jan. 17 in the 2300 block of 36 Avenue. Several people noticed the fire, but no one saw who started it. There was no damage...

Pair of men face charges after spotted wearing balaclavas

VERNON - Police are recommending charges against a pair of men caught with weapons and balaclavas. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says police received a report of two men near Fruit Union Plaza wearing masks and gloves around 10:40 a.m. Jan. 17. Officers found the suspects in the area, no longer wearing balaclavas, and searched them....

RCMP investigate hit-and-run between Kelowna semi-truck and building

SALMON ARM - Alarms rang at a Salmon Arm service station when the building was struck by a semi-truck Monday night. Several alarms rang at The Great Canadian Oil Change located on the Trans-Canada Highway starting at 9 p.m. Jan. 12, 2015. According to a Salmon Arm RCMP media release, the collision resulted in several...

Photo generates tips in Enderby donation box theft

VERNON - A photo released by police has generated a possible suspect in an Enderby case involving a stolen donation box. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says Mounties might be a step closer to finding out who’s responsible for taking a donation box from the Esso in Enderby. The donations were intended to support the family...

Mental health rehabilitation earns drug dealer lesser sentence

KAMLOOPS - A dial-a-dope drug dealer caught in an undercover RCMP operation was handed a one-year probationary sentence on Monday, Jan. 12 for dealing cocaine. Jeremy Machmer, 27, appeared in Kamloops Supreme Court where he pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine. In September 2013, Machmer sold two rocks of the drug for fifty dollars to a...

Donations for toddler’s funeral stolen from Enderby gas station

VERNON - Police are hoping the public can help them find someone who stole donations for a three-year-old’s funeral. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says police received a report about the unfortunate incident on Saturday, Jan. 3 at the Esso in Enderby. “The suspect stole the donation box that was to assist the family... with funeral...

Mounties respond to ‘unnerving’ report of man carrying Samurai sword in Enderby

ENDERBY - Police arrested an Enderby man for possession of a weapon after a reported incident involving a Samurai sword last Friday.  RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says police responded to a report of a 39-year-old man yelling at a resident in a Baird Avenue apartment building in Enderby to come out and fight.  Police arrived...

Arrest made in Vernon corner store armed robbery

VERNON - Police arrested a man who allegedly pepper sprayed a corner store employee and made off with cigarettes and cash. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk said officers identified the suspect as a 19-year-old Vernon man and arrested him the afternoon of Jan. 8. The man is expected to appear in court Jan. 9 to answer...

Senior pedestrian left unconscious; police seek information

VERNON - Police are looking for more information about a hit and run that left a 69-year-old man unconscious on the side of the road. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk said the accident happened Thursday, Jan. 8 just before 9 p.m. at the intersection of Husband Road and Kalamalka Lake Road in Coldstream. “The witness who...

Vernon’s connection to a Lower Mainland gang called the Unknown Soldiers

GANG SETS UP ‘DRUG FRANCHISES’ IN SMALL COMMUNITIES; POLICE BELIEVE VERNON WAS ONE OF THEM VERNON - Mounties believe the alleged drug runner arrested last month in a targeted police investigation is involved with a relatively new gang calling itself the Unknown Soldiers. Sgt. Lindsey Houghton with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia...

Suspect drives stolen car into snowbank

VERNON COP IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME TO CATCH THIEF VERNON - A man well known to police didn’t get far in a stolen vehicle in Vernon early Thursday morning. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says a Kimberley man was on his way back to his hotel from Denny’s around 1:40 a.m. when...

Vernon RCMP disrupt ‘potentially dangerous’ drug trafficking operation

VERNON - Mounties have busted a Vernon drug ring with ties to the Lower Mainland. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk said two men, Andres Naranjo, 21, and Daniel Penton, 21, both of the Lower Mainland but residing in Vernon, were arrested Dec. 19. Naranjo is facing charges of trafficking cocaine and possession of cocaine and heroin...

2014 NEWSMAKER OF THE YEAR: Matthew Foerster, convicted murderer

THIS WEEK, INFONEWS.CA IS COUNTING DOWN THE TOP FIVE NEWSMAKERS OF THE YEAR. ARMSTRONG - A murder trial into the death of an Armstrong teen concluded in 2014, putting the Cherryville man at its center behind bars for at least 25 years. The gruesome details of 18-year-old Taylor Van Diest’s murder at the hands of...

NEWSMAKERS 2014: String of arsons go down as worst in recent memory

THIS WEEK, INFONEWS.CA IS COUNTING DOWN THE TOP FIVE STORIES OF THE YEAR. TODAY: NUMBER THREE VERNON - Authorities called it the worst fire-setting spree in recent memory, and with the close of 2014, we still don’t know who’s responsible. Over 20 fires were set across the city this past year, beginning in late spring...

NEWSMAKERS 2014: Child porn, luring cases in court

THIS WEEK, INFONEWS.CA IS COUNTING DOWN THE TOP FIVE STORIES OF THE YEAR. TODAY: NUMBER FOUR VERNON - A growing number of child pornography and online luring cases are passing through Canadian courts, and Vernon is no exception. In 2014, three men — a Seattle private school ski coach, a former cop and a Vernon...

Judge ponders drug sentence in light of rehabilitation effort

PENTICTON - A Penticton man will spend another 10 months behind bars despite his attempts to rehabilitate himself. Penticton Provincial Court Judge Gale Sinclair pondered the dilemma finding a proper sentence for 27-year-old Dwayne Lee Gabriel upon hearing of his rehabilitation efforts following two drug offences which took place in 2012. Federal Crown Prosecutor Ashleigh...

Intoxicated Vernon teen caught with drugs, revolver and bullets

VERNON - A Vernon teenager spent Christmas with RCMP after getting caught with a 375 Magnum revolver and various drugs. It was roughly 9:10 p.m. Dec. 25 and the intoxicated 16-year-old was creating quite a scene in the area of Highway 6 and Pottery Road. “The man was walking in and out of traffic on...

Kelowna duo arrested for stealing country club’s gas

SPALLUMCHEEN - A pair of Kelowna men didn’t make it far after trying to steal gas from the Spallumcheen Golf and Country Club. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says the golf club’s alarm went off around 7:45 p.m. Dec. 27 at the outside gas tanks. Police found one suspect in the immediate area, and a second...

Police take prohibited weapon off the street

KAMLOOPS — Police say they arrested two people and removed a prohibited weapon thanks to a tip from the public. Kamloops RCMP Sgt. Michael Buxton-Carr says police don't know why the man and woman had a 12-gauge sawed-off shotgun at the Kamloops Greyhound Bus Depot on Christmas Eve but do not believe there was any...

Search for firearms leads mounties to Lumby grow-op

LUMBY - Police went looking for illegal firearms at a Lumby residence earlier this month and turned up what they call a dangerous, albeit legally licensed marijuana grow-op instead. Lumby Cpl. Henry Proce said police executed a search warrant Dec. 12 at a residence in the 1700 block of Grandview Avenue looking for firearms. The...

Dragon’s head, bracelets stolen in Osoyoos

OSOYOOS - A couple of unique items have gone missing, along with cash, following break and enters at two businesses in Osoyoos this week. The first occurred on Dec. 20 at Wander Home Furniture store where a small amount of cash and a large ornamental wood dragon’s head were taken. Two days later several bracelets,...